Digital Inference 7

Chapter 7: Quest Start
<<<Lisa Wilbourn>>>

Casually walking into the dining room, Lisa just snorted as she watched Vixi try to out-eat Sistermon Blanc with some amusement. Shaking her head she retook her seat and looked at Brian, a part of her still frustrated but it had cooled to irritation.

“So, feeling better?” She asked.

“No,” He started, “But I’ll get over it. How long did you take to come to terms with this shit?” Brian asked, rubbing his face.

“Well, honestly I’m still processing,” Lisa admitted, “But I will say I love Vixi and will shoot anyone that hurts her in the face. But yeah the whole Digidestined thing is… pretty heavy.”

Brian snorted, “Fair, you know I don’t think I’ve seen you get attached to something so quickly before,” He commented.

“Well, not having Coil breathing down my neck, and my power giving me TMI all the goddamn time makes me almost friendly.” She snarked back, “Downright sociable even!” Then her finger raised, “But also, Taylor.”

“... Point,” He replied with a nod, “Do you think they’ll stop eating when forced to, or when their stomachs start to hurt?”

Since Blanc was already beginning to slow and was only continuing to eat because Vixi was…

{Blanc’s stomach is already hurting. Vixi’s stomach is already hurting.}

“Vixi, stop. I can tell you’re just hurting yourself,” Lisa said, “Besides if you’re too full how can you two show off to the musclehead over here?” She snarked getting a ‘hey’ from Brian.

She, roughly, swallowed the last ‘bite’ she’d taken, “Who said anything about trying to impress him?” Vixi asked, “I simply wanted a spar.”

“I did! I wanted to show him he didn’t have to worry about me in a fight,” Blanc said, standing up… and then roughly sitting down with a groan, head going to the table, “I overdid it… help, medic… stomach ache alert…”

Predictably, no one moved to help.

Lisa just rolled her eyes while Brian snorted.

--------

Their ride was… effectively a metal box getting carried by a dragon, the same dragon they saw carrying Blanc in (called Seadramon, apparently).

Personally, Lisa didn’t pay much attention. Lost in thought while Vixi used her shoulder as a pillow to get a quick nap in. Which in turn amused her, she didn’t think Vixi would be so sleep-happy. Then again, after Coil was in the ground she might find herself indulging in naps more often. Well, if there was still a safe place in the flooded city.

It’d probably be wise for her to just relocate entirely, after Coil was gone she’ll be free to do what she wanted. She could easily use the money she’d been saving to go anywhere else and just… do something. Anything other than being a villain, maybe she could be a Private Investigator? She’d be perfect with her power, though she’d have to do some studying and training.

Don’t want the NEPA-5 law to hit her and force her into the Wards or Protectorate.

“We can only take you to the edge of our kingdom,” A small grey dinosaur digimon, Monodramon, started, “And we’ve sent you a map on your digivices. It should lead you to the location of the next portals to the physical world, so you can get to the next digidestined to come through before the Demon Lords can.”

“That’s fair,” Lisa said, “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting as much help as we’re getting. But that might just be because living in the Bay leaves you cynical,” She added with a shrug.

“Hey, you might be prophesied to win but it doesn’t say without help,” Monodramon replied, saluting them, “And, of course, we would be poor vassals of King Drasil if we didn’t show kindness to guests of his!”

Lisa frowned, “Aegisdramon said that she was given the land by King Drasil’s avatar, but you’re implying they’re a separate person too?”

“It’s complicated,” They replied, looking bashful, “Their avatar is their own person, but they also follow King Drasil’s desires exactly.”

“... Well, that makes about as much sense as everything else since I got here.” Lisa said with a nod as she pulled her digidevice and with some fiddling got the map and looked at it thoughtfully.

{King Drasil is akin to the Christian God.}

And that was something she was going to ignore for as long as possible.

She had to deal with dread enough already, no need to make it existential.

“So, we visit these portals and the next member of our team joins?” Brian asked, “Just wanting to make sure I get this right. I’m still… struggling with everything.”

“Yup!” Monodramon replied with a happy nod, “They should appear with enough time for you to get to them each, and of course the Kernel will try and help things along, but there’s no guarantees. Destiny takes work to achieve.”

Brian just shook his head and grumbled a little but kept his peace.

“The next portal is near a city,” Lisa noticed, “Ruled by the ‘Hive Queen’?” Maybe they’d find Taylor there.

“... If we don’t find Taylor there I’ll eat my leathers.” Brian deadpanned, “And, honestly, I think Skitter is a better name.”

Lisa just snorted at that. “Can’t disagree with you on that,” She said as she continued looking at the map thoughtfully.

“It’s ruled by… Queen Beemon,” Monodramon said with what must have passed for a grimace, “She’s very hostile to outsiders. She’s not… evil, but… she’s very territorial. You might want to find something to bring her as a gift, something to convince her you aren’t hostile.”

Well, there was a smaller town between where they were going to be dropped off and the ‘Hive,’ so maybe they’d be able to pick something up there…

“What currency do you guys use, anyway?” She asked, looking up, “Not dollars, I assume?”

“Oh, no! We use bits, the smallest piece of data you can gather from a digimon,” Monodramon started, “You need a few million of them to digivolve, and you always get some from a fight, so we use it as currency.”

“That sounds…” Honestly, Lisa wasn’t entirely sure how to put it.

Like… stabbing someone, collecting blood, and using it to buy stuff? And she immediately regretted coming up with that metaphor. She decided she’s just overthinking and should focus on the map instead.

“Huh, Virus City?” Lisa mumbled, though it made sense… viruses were a thing with computers after all.

“Ah, yes, a large amount of Virus Type digimon live there,” Monodramon said, “They aren’t all evil… but it’s very crime ridden. With luck, you aren’t going to need to go there.”

“Sounds almost like home…” Brian said with a snort.

“The more I learn of your home, the less I want to visit,” He replied with a blink, “Anyway, to the north of that you’ll see Jungle Plantation, it’s run by Etemon, a monkey digimon, he’s… not very nice, and is very strong. Avoid him if you can.”

Brian just snorted again. “Well, hopefully we won’t have a reason to go his way,” Lisa said, “And yeah, don’t visit the Bay. It’s kinda flooded out right now.”

The digimon just shook its head before resuming its tour guide shtick. 

“North of that is the ocean, and that’s all for the major settlements of File Island,” He said, “Unless the Anomalous Desert appears again, if it does you’ll find it to the east. The Endless Jungle to the south is… endless, but can be walked around if you need to, don’t ask how that works we don’t know, and to the west is the ocean again.”

“This world is very odd,” Lisa said, getting a snort from Brian and a nod from their guide.

“Yeah, but it’s our world and I personally wouldn’t have it any other way, despite how confusing it gets,” The digimon said, “I could do with less villains though.”

And that was something they could all agree on.

--------

By the time they landed, their partners were ready to go; fully recovered from their overeating spree. Thankfully, they were not the ones carrying the supplies they’d been given.

Unfortunately, Lisa and Brian were and those supposed were heavy.

“You’d think this thing would have a storage dimension or something…” She grumbled, mostly for the sake of it. Not that she enjoyed lugging around heavy supplies but well… when needs must and all that.

Brian just scoffed, “Maybe you shouldn’t have skipped out when I went to the gym?” He teased in his gruff ‘macho’ voice. “We are carrying tents, sleeping bags, and food.”

“Fuck you Brian, fuck you…” She groaned, Vixi and Blanc laughing about their misfortune. “You two are the ones that are going to be doing all the fighting, so yuck it up while you can…”

That shut them up real quick.

“Hey Brian, how close are we to that town?” Lisa asked, not having the energy to check herself.

Brian checked his map, “Maybe another hour or two away?” He guessed as he adjusted his pack, “We can take a breather if you need one, Lisa.” He offered.

“Ugh, yeah,” She groaned, dropping to the ground to take a seat, “Can you get that water canteen out of my pack for me?”

With a laugh, he acquiesced 

After getting her canteen Brian just stood back and just stared up at the sky, “You know… I’m still adjusting, but this really is a nice place…” He said mostly to himself but the digimon and Lisa overheard him, “Aisha would probably find it boring, damn troublemaker…”

“What’s your sister like?” Lisa asked curiously as she removed her pack and sat down, “I mean other than knowing she exists, you never really talked about her.”

“She’s a troublemaker,” He started, “Has ADHD, really poor impulse control, but… she’s nice to friends, very loving.”

“Heh, maybe when we get back you can introduce her?” Lisa asked, “And personally I think she’d love it here. I mean… well you know…” She added, gesturing to everything around them.

“If she isn’t on her way already,” He replied with a sigh, “Do you think she’ll get a digimon partner too?”

“Probably,” Lisa replied, “You think she’ll get a demon?”

“Whatever she gets, I hope it’ll help me keep her out of trouble,” Brian said, his voice filled with an exasperated fondness.

“Well this world is crazy with variety,” Lisa said, “Though knowing your luck, her partner will just be as big as a gremlin as she is.”

“Please, don’t curse me like that…” Brian didn’t beg, {He’s totally begging} making Lisa smirk.

Of course, even as they bantered things were stirring, rough laughter echoed, and a bunch of club wielding green goblins swarmed out of the woods, “Give us all your bits and supplies!” The apparent leader said.

The only reason Lisa could tell they were the leader was that they had a very large hat where the others didn’t.

“Goblinmon, Type Evil, Attribute Virus: A rookie digimon attack in groups, but is very cowardly.” Brian’s digivice ‘helpfully’ pointed out, enraging the group.

“Cowardly!?” He asked, stomping and hefting his club higher, “We aren’t cowardly! But we do attack in groups, there are six of us and only four of you!”

Vixi and Blanc had jumped to interpose themselves against the digimon, but Lisa was more than experienced enough to know that they were vulnerable; if Vixi and Blanc each fought two off, which was generous, the other two could go for her and Brian and they were far too squishy to actually fight a digimon.

Which was, of course, when Brian showed off his power; flooding the area with darkness and causing the Goblinmon to panic. Not Blanc or Vixi though, they’d been told about it on the ride over.

Lisa honestly felt inadequate, and while she’d never trade her power for anything… being just a cheerleader wasn’t doing her ego any good…

{Darkness is alive.}

And that was something she’d deal with later. Hopefully.

Still, their partners being ready for the darkness and their opponents very much not having been allowed them to quickly rout the small gang (though intuition said they’d be back eventually)... and gain digital data, bits, and a jaunty hat.

“Dark Digivolution Data Acquired. Current Amount: 10%.” Her digivice said. “Bits Acquired: Six Hundred. Total Bits: Six-Hundred-Ten.”

“Well, that’s convenient," Lisa admitted, “Though I won’t lie… kinda concerned about this Dark Digivolution thing.”

“Why?” Sistermon Blanc asked, head tilting, “It just means that the digivolution unlocked will be Dark elementally aligned. Or a Virus, it kinda varies. Most of mine are Dark, maybe that’s why his isn’t alerting him to it?”

“Mm, my Dark digivolutions are more magician and witch like than the other paths available to me,” Vixi said, “Not evil, just… darker. Akin to your friend’s abilities. Of course, that’s when they’re achieved naturally, through Data being used. If a Dark Warp digivolution happens, the result is often maddened by the negative emotions involved.”

“... So how many kinds of digivolution are there?” Brian asked, trying to piece things together.

“Too many to list,” Blanc admitted, “but the most important are Warp, Data, and Bio-Fuse,” She explained, sitting down as her trident began shining a hologram out, showing the kanji and english names for each option.

{Japan server likely host.}

“Just sounded alarming, honestly.” Lisa said as she settled in to listen curiously, “And… I think I need a little context for bio-fuse.”

“Then we’ll start with that,” She continued, a diagram forming showing Lisa and Renamon, a small plus between them. “With Bio-Fuse Digivolution, a human and a digimon merge to become one being with a shared purpose. This unlocks new power and a new form, but it varies by Crest and I don’t think any previous Renamon partner has had yours.”

Which explained the lack of a result.

“Warp Digivolution uses the connection of a Digidestined and their partner to temporarily push our level to greater heights. As an example, Brian’s Love could push me to my Champion, Ultimate, or Mega form,” it struck Lisa that a demonness had appeared for her Ultimate form, “without my meeting any pre-requisites. Most digidestined rely on this method, as it requires less combat and time than Data digivolution and is easier to use than Bio-Fuse.”

She paused to see if they were following along before finishing. “Data is the most simple form, you take data from defeated digimon to give us new forms. The most basic of which is simply using it as building blocks for a form we are already predisposed to, a nine tailed fox digimon known as Kyubimon would be a Renamon’s default as an example, with a more complex form using the data to change us into almost any other species of digimon. This takes a lot of time, but a benefit of it is that it is completely permanent. I hope to permanently stay in my Champion form, at least.”

Then she clapped and stood up, “Any questions?” She asked before pointing at Renamon, “And you were the one that took the hat off, right? Lisa, why don’t you tap it on your digivice? Something fun happens after,” She suggested with a grin.

{Is planning a prank.}

Well, it wasn’t going to be on her so, snatching the hat away from Vixi, she tapped it to the small computer… and giggled as it appeared on Vixi’s head with two perfect holes cut for her ears to stick up through.

“I think it’s rather cute,” Lisa admitted with a smile, “Makes you look dashing.”

“... it can’t be taken off without you changing it on the digivice,” Vixi mumbled, covering her face in embarrassment.

{Feels embarrassed about the compliment. Doesn’t know how to take it.}

“Huh, learning something new all the time then.” Lisa said as she looked at her digidevice, “And… it gives a plus two to defense? What is this, an rpg now?”

Brian just chuckled.

“Strictly speaking, it’s a two percent increase in data integrity,” Blanc said, “Effectively, she’ll hold herself together that much better against attacks. Two-Percent isn’t much on its own, but it’s something!”

“My question remains valid however,” Lisa retorted with a hum.

“In video game terms,” Blanc continued, ignoring her, “It’s effectively two percent more HP and a really, really low percentage reduction on incoming damage.”

Lisa, seeing that her answer wasn’t going to come, sighed dramatically and slumped against Vixi, “No respect, I don’t get any of it. You understand me, don’t you my dear Vixi?”

To that, the fox simply gave her a flat look.

“I love you too, Vixi!~” Lisa quipped.